I was wondering (or hoping) that maybe The Hobbit will follow Avatar's idea of releasing the "Extended Version" in selected cinemas (say HFR ones) during the Summer Holidays and then releasing it on Blu-ray around October time?

I think October is a confirmed date for The Hobbit EE? So that's a promising sign, right?

Highly doubt they'll put the EE in theaters. WB will most likely wanna focus on revving up promotion for DoS, and not want to have to waste time putting the EE in theaters. Avatar did it since its 3D was considered "groundbreaking" and it made 2 billion in its run, so of course they'd milk it further and put the director's cut in theaters. But WB will definitely just put the EE straight to DVD, and spend more money on the marketing of DoS. Rereleases tend to not make that much anyway, from what I've seen. Lover of Medieval Fantasy "I know what I must do. It's just... I'm afraid to do it."

After a few early missteps, New LIne ran a brilliant publicity campaign for all three parts of LOTR. So far Warner Bros. has managed almost entirely to avoid any of the brilliant tactics used by New Line. No excellent official website, no release of a long preview of the second film attached to prints of the first film late in its run, etc. No fan club, for that matter, no magazine. General disdain for fans, I would say. Don't assume anything logical from WB. This is the studio that thought there would be an audience for Jack the Giant-Slayer. Does that imply they have any contact with fans? What we will get that is fan-friendly will probably come largely from Peter and company and what they are able to push through for our benefit (most importantly, supplements produced by Michael Pellerin for the extended DVD/Blu-ray versions.).

WB is a company run by the bottom line and is not very people friendly. New Line was much better about public relations and keeping the fans in the loop so to speak. We have yet to see any of that via WB. Most of what the fans have seen is I believe 100% Peter Jackson and WETA.

maybe a one time screening of the three Hobbit EE's when the trilogy is over. I think it will most likely be November, but i hope we get a EE teaser soon! take me down to the woodland realm where the trees are green and the elf women are pretty....Oh will you please take me home!!

Why divert attention away from the newest film and even bothering rereleasing the film all fans have seen hundreds of times with only 20 minutes of new footage? Lover of Medieval Fantasy "I know what I must do. It's just... I'm afraid to do it."

To me the whole thing seems very extended already, being made into three films, given the original source material of 'The Hobbit'. So much padding, so many extras! I find I can't get very excited by the idea of an EE - loved the LOTR EEs, because there was a lot to work with, and too many bits missed, even then - but this time? I'm not convinced.

New Line took care in the design and quality even of the basic cinema version DVDs. The DVDs for each film have their own colour coding (reproduced in products that were linked to the films). They were all consistently produced and looked like quality products compared with the shoddy way the AUJ blu-ray DVDs are packaged (no images on the disks, with the Steelbook containing two disks stacked on each other in a wonky way, instead of opening out like a book; no explanation as to what is on the disks, unlike in the case of the LOTR basic DVDs, which each included an illustrated leaflet folded in three describing the contents, etc.). As for the basic AUJ DVD, it is just one disk with no image, in a horrible plastic case.

It is obvious that Warner Bros. couldn't care less about quality and want to churn out the DVDs as cheaply as possible – something that will only ultimately damage their company and the film. And they certainly haven't cottoned on to the fact that there is a big collectors' market out there for Tolkien-related material.

In Reply To

After a few early missteps, New LIne ran a brilliant publicity campaign for all three parts of LOTR. So far Warner Bros. has managed almost entirely to avoid any of the brilliant tactics used by New Line. No excellent official website, no release of a long preview of the second film attached to prints of the first film late in its run, etc. No fan club, for that matter, no magazine. General disdain for fans, I would say. Don't assume anything logical from WB. This is the studio that thought there would be an audience for Jack the Giant-Slayer. Does that imply they have any contact with fans? What we will get that is fan-friendly will probably come largely from Peter and company and what they are able to push through for our benefit (most importantly, supplements produced by Michael Pellerin for the extended DVD/Blu-ray versions.).